Holy Land, holy family

Palestinians pick up food supplies from Catholic Relief Services in Al Ayzariyah, West Bank, Dec. 8. CRS workers traveled a roundabout way from Bethlehem to deliver the much needed food. Going the more direct route through Jerusalem would require a special Israeli travel permit. CNS

The members of the Palestinian Women’s Solidarity Project in a West Bank village, just a few miles from Jerusalem, taught me recently what it means to be a Holy Family. I, along with a pilgrimage group from San Antonio, visited with them to learn about their work. The group was comprised of parish members of St. Margaret Mary and San Fernando Cathedral, other parishes and a few from other parts of the country.

We were in the Holy Land to pray at the shrines that mark the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and to see the work that Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is doing with the Palestinian people.

We learned how these West Bank women have organized themselves with the collaboration of CRS and others to help support their families by sewing scarves, shawls, decorator bags and other handicrafts.

The women work under difficult conditions in what the UN calls “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” where many of their husbands have lost their jobs due to the wall that now separates Jerusalem from the West Bank.

I saw no bitterness or hatred in those women, just a simple determination to care for their families under harsh conditions. The spirit of those women, the hardships they are overcoming, and their hope for a better life inspired me to more clearly understand the story of the Holy Family.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph also lived in difficult times and under difficult conditions. Their country was occupied territory. As immigrants to Bethlehem the young couple experienced the same rejection and isolation that many immigrants throughout the world feel today. As refugees in Egypt they lived in a foreign country to escape the threats to their child and to simply survive as a family. As poor people they existed in a world with no safety nets provided by government. It is difficult for most Americans, who live comfortable lives, to really grasp the tremendous struggle to be a family under such conditions. Yet, the Holy Family is a model for us despite our inability to understand what it means to be an immigrant, a refugee or experience real poverty.

Israel is a beautiful country with wonderful people. The West Bank is also beautiful and the people there very welcoming. We were profoundly moved as we crisscrossed the land following the footsteps of Jesus. We were equally moved by our visits with the people. It seems so tragic that this special part of the world continues to live with sharp tensions and violence.

Our pilgrim group visited and prayed at the 25-foot-tall separation wall, built for security purposes, but also the cause of such division and suffering in that troubled land. Pope Benedict called it “one of the saddest sights” he saw during his May visit to the Holy Land.

It was ironic that the day we stood at the wall was the eve of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It made me think of our own country’s wall now being built on the Mexican border, also the cause of such distress and division. What have walls accomplished? They are a testament to our inability, due to human weakness, to construct bridges of understanding and peace.

The Holy Family is that bridge of understanding and peace for us. In his recent encyclical, Pope Benedict tells us that family virtues such as honesty, generosity, and solidarity promote harmony within households as well as in the wider world.

The honesty, generosity, and solidarity of the Holy Family continue to live in these Palestinian women as well as many Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land today. As we celebrate the Holy Family’s feast, let us work and pray for the day when honesty and generosity will replace walls, and solidarity will bring peace to all families in our world.

Father David Garcia is director of the Old Spanish Missions for the archdiocese and is the Priest Outreach coordinator for Catholic Relief Services.